Sir Ian McKellen has said there is potential for a Hobbit spin-off movie about his character Gandalf.

The 73-year-old actor, reprises his Lord Of The Rings role as wizard Gandalf in director Sir Peter Jackson's new Hobbit trilogy. And asked if he would be interested in starring in Gandalf: The Movie, he admitted there was still material by writer JRR Tolkien, yet to be adapted for the big screen.

Sir Ian said: "It's an idea isn't it? I don't know how much material there is left. Some of the story of The Hobbit is not actually in the book The Hobbit, but in the appendices and the other writings that Tolkien did. He had a very full diary as it were, of the details of Middle Earth.

"So who knows, there may be some material left to put together, but I wouldn't want the responsibility of being the leading character."

The actor - who revealed he is reuniting with Sir Patrick Stewart for a new X Men film directed by Bryan Singer - added: "I was joking the other day that we were going to make a sequel called Gandalf the gay for which I would be very well cast!"